MacAndrews &amp; Forbes Holdingshttp://www.desmogblog.com/taxonomy/term/4570/all
enMohawk Paper Joins Chamber of Commerce Exodushttp://www.desmogblog.com/mohawk-paper-quits-chamber-commerce-over-climate-joins-growing-exodus
<div class="field field-name-field-bimage field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/styles/blog_teaser/public/blogimages/us_chamber_of_commerce_1.gif?itok=r_tOz8Wj" width="200" height="200" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Mohawk Fine Papers became the <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mohawk-fine-papers-resigns-from-us-chamber-of-commerce-over-climate-policy-65016092.html" target="_blank">latest company to resign</a> from the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Chamber of Commerce over climate policy disagreements, adding more embarrassment to an <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/chamber-of-commerce-hoax_n_326069.html" target="_blank">already rough week for the Chamber</a>.</p>
<p>According to the Mohawk press release:</p>
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<p>“We believe that our continued membership in an organization that vigorously opposes sensible climate change policies is detrimental to our position as a business leader with a strong record in the areas of environmental innovation and climate protection,” says George F. Milner, Mohawk’s Senior <span class="caps">VP</span>, Energy, Environmental, and Government Affairs.</p>
<p>“We understand that the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Chamber’s job is to promote policies that represent the consensus opinion of its membership; but the Chamber also has a responsibility to shape that consensus with vision, guidance and leadership that looks beyond ideological divisions. That is particularly important in the area of climate change policies,” Milner wrote in a <a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/another_firm_bails_on_the_us_c.html" target="_blank">letter to the Chamber last week.<!--break--></a></p>
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<p>Mohawk specifically cited the Chamber’s efforts to derail Congressional climate and energy bills, and its call on <span class="caps">EPA</span> for a <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/us-chamber-commerce-challenge-climate-science-court">“Scopes Monkey Trial”</a> debate on man-made climate change, as reasons for exiting the Chamber. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/yes-men-punk-chamber" target="_blank">Yes Men punked the Chambe</a>r yesterday in a fake news conference, drawing Chamber spokesman Eric Wohlschlegel into an uncomfortable position when real reporters started asking him why the Chamber is clinging to its position denying climate change. After stumbling through a few defensive replies, Wohlschlegel handed out business cards and left the scene.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/13/another-company-may-leave_n_319782.html" target="_blank">Huffington Post reported</a> last week that MacAndrews <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Forbes Holdings, the holding company owned by multi-billionaire Ronald Perelman, is also debating whether to leave the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Chamber of Commerce over its extreme climate position and “Scopes Monkey Trial” challenge to the <span class="caps">EPA</span> over the Clean Air Act.</p>
<p>The Chamber has been losing members – real members out of its <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/incredible-shrinking-us-chamber-commerce-faces-intense-pressure-over-extreme-climate-position">actual 300,000 or less total</a> – at a rate of several each week lately. <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/apple-quits-us-chamber-commerce-over-climate">Apple was the most recent</a> in a string of high-profile defections including <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/strike-three-exelon-leaves-chamber-commerce-over-climate-stance">Exelon</a>, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/pnm-resources-leaves-us-chamber-board-slams-stance-climate">Pacific Gas <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Electric, <span class="caps">PNM</span> Resources</a>, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/nike-quits-chamber-commerce-board-over-climate-rift">Nike</a>, <a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/the_us_chambers_continuing_cli.html " target="_blank">Levi Strauss <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Co., <span class="caps">PSEG</span></a>, and the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/san-francisco-chamber-commerce-ends-partnership-us-chamber" target="_blank">San Francisco Chamber of Commerce</a>. </p>
<p>Mother Jones magazine has done <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/10/chamber-commerce-vs-climate-change" target="_blank">several</a> <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/why-are-these-green-companies-still-us-chamber-commerce" target="_blank">excellent</a> <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/more-chamber-commerces-climate-denial" target="_blank">pieces</a> recently <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/yo-chamber-commerce-you-speakin-me" target="_blank">explaining the reasons behind the exodus</a>, including an excellent article titled <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/10/chamber-commerce-vs-climate-change" target="_blank">“Inside the Chamber of Carbon.”</a></p>
<p>Who will be the next to abandon the <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/incredible-shrinking-us-chamber-commerce-faces-intense-pressure-over-extreme-climate-position">rapidly-shrinking Chamber</a> over its extreme climate position?</p></div></div></div><!-- iCopyright Horizontal Tag -->
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/813">pg&amp;e</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/818">exelon</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2521">U.S. Chamber of Commerce</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4540">Nike</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4546">PNM Resources</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4561">Apple</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4569">Tom Donohue</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4570">MacAndrews &amp; Forbes Holdings</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4571">Levi Strauss &amp; Co</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4572">PSEG</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4581">Mohawk Paper</a></div></div></div>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:54:35 +0000Brendan DeMelle4131 at http://www.desmogblog.comThe Incredible Shrinking U.S. Chamber of Commerce Faces Intense Pressure Over Extreme Climate Positionhttp://www.desmogblog.com/incredible-shrinking-us-chamber-commerce-faces-intense-pressure-over-extreme-climate-position
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>It turns out that the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Chamber of Commerce <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/us-chamber-caves-membership-numbers " target="_blank">only has 300,000 members</a>, not the “more than 3 million” it claimed to represent just a day ago, before Mother Jones magazine questioned the business lobby’s inflated numbers. <br /><br />The Chamber has now “quietly backed off” the 3 million figure, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/us-chamber-caves-membership-numbers " target="_blank">according to Mother Jones</a>, which reports today that:</p>
<div style="border: 1px solid LightGrey; margin: 10px; padding: 10px; width: 87%;">Since 1997, the “3 million” figure has appeared in print more than 200 times in newspapers and broadcast outlets of all sizes…<br />By contrast, the 300,000 figure, which appears nowhere on the Chamber’s website, is cited in the news database Lexis-Nexis only three times–infrequently enough to be mistaken for a typo.”<br /></div>
<p><br />Getting called out for such <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/us-chamber-caves-membership-numbers " target="_blank">“semantic tricks”</a> is the least of the Chamber’s problems these days. <br /><br />The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/13/another-company-may-leave_n_319782.html" target="_blank">Huffington Post reports</a> that MacAndrews <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Forbes Holdings, the holding company owned by multi-billionaire Ronald Perelman, is debating whether to leave the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Chamber of Commerce over its extreme climate position and recent “Scopes Monkey Trial” challenge to the <span class="caps">EPA</span> over the Clean Air Act. <br /><br />The Chamber has been losing members – real members out of its actual 300,000 or less total – at a rate of several each week lately. <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/apple-quits-us-chamber-commerce-over-climate">Apple was the most recent</a> in a string of high-profile defections including <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/strike-three-exelon-leaves-chamber-commerce-over-climate-stance">Exelon</a>, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/pnm-resources-leaves-us-chamber-board-slams-stance-climate">Pacific Gas <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Electric, <span class="caps">PNM</span> Resources</a>, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/nike-quits-chamber-commerce-board-over-climate-rift">Nike</a>, <a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/the_us_chambers_continuing_cli.html " target="_blank">Levi Strauss <span class="amp">&amp;</span> Co. and <span class="caps">PSEG</span></a>. </p>
<p>The exodus has weakened the Chamber’s credibility on the Hill at a critical time when business leaders are <a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-8178-Phoenix-Green-Business-Examiner~y2009m10d8-Clean-energy-debate-heads-to-White-House-with-corporate-executives " target="_blank">descending on Washington</a> to lobby Congress to pass strong climate and energy legislation. Pete Altman at <span class="caps">NRDC</span>’s Switchboard blog has compiled a running tally of editorials from around the country criticizing the Chamber’s intransigence on climate change in a post titled <a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/the_us_chambers_continuing_cli.html " target="_blank">“The <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Chamber’s Continuing Climate Credibility Crisis.” </a><br /><!--break--><br />Even the White House has joined in the Chamber pile-on. Energy Secretary <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/08/barack-obama-climate-change " target="_blank">Steven Chu told reporters</a> “it’s wonderful” to see so many companies quit the Chamber of Commerce. “I think companies like that - Exelon and others - are saying we have recognized the reality,” Chu said. “They are saying we can’t be a party to this denial and foot-dragging.” <br /><br />“I would encourage the Chamber of Commerce to realize the economic opportunity that the United States can lead in a new industrial revolution,” <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE5975AI20091008 " target="_blank">Chu said</a>. <br /><br />Pressure is now building on the Chamber from multiple fronts.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.greencentury.com/">Green Century Capital Management</a>, which manages environmentally friendly mutual funds, and a group of investment-focused organizations sent letters this week to <a href="http://www.nawindpower.com/naw/e107_plugins/content/content_lt.php?content.4746" target="_blank">14 corporations urging them to end their Chamber memberships</a> (and in many cases their memberships with the National Association of Manufacturers). Read the <a href="http://enviroknow.com/thesource/2009/10/14/large-investor-urges-13-major-corporations-to-end-membership-in-chamber-of-commerce/" target="_blank">letters over at EnviroKnow</a>.<br /><br />The Silicon Valley Leadership Council, which represents around 300 <span class="caps">IT</span> and tech employers including Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo!, joined with the Environmental Defense Action Fund and Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network on a <a href="http://thehill.com/hillicon-valley/605-technology/62871-silicon-valley-group-knocks-chamber-over-climate-stance">print ad campaign this week</a> urging the Chamber to change its ways and support climate legislation in Congress. <br /><br />“Silicon Valley is ready to lead the world in the next great technological revolution: clean energy,” the ad states. “That’s why we’ve been so disappointed by the opposition of the <span class="caps">U.S.</span> Chamber of Commerce to clean energy legislation now moving through Congress.”<br /><br />A coalition of progressive activists and attorneys just launched <a href="http://www.stopthechamber.com/ " target="_blank">StopTheChamber.com</a> this week as well, knocking not only the Chamber’s climate position, but also its role as “an extremist political organization dedicated to corrupting American democracy by elevating the profits of big corporations over the well being of the citizens they serve.” The campaign is <a href="http://www.stopthechamber.com/ " target="_blank">calling on Congress to investigate the Chamber</a> on multiple fronts, including fraud, false tax filings and campaign finance violations. <br /><br />But the Chamber’s backwards stance on climate change remains the focus of most critics at present. Mother Jones magazine has done <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/10/chamber-commerce-vs-climate-change" target="_blank">several</a> <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/why-are-these-green-companies-still-us-chamber-commerce" target="_blank">excellent</a> <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/more-chamber-commerces-climate-denial" target="_blank">pieces</a> recently <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/yo-chamber-commerce-you-speakin-me" target="_blank">explaining why</a>, including an article titled <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/10/chamber-commerce-vs-climate-change" target="_blank">“Inside the Chamber of Carbon.”</a> The piece notes that the Chamber’s “aggressively narrow climate policy” may violate its own policy-making process since the full board of directors never formally voted on the matter, as is customarily required by the Chamber’s procedures. Chamber <span class="caps">CEO</span> Tom Donohue rebuts that argument, telling reporters that the board voted on climate issues, but they were part of a ‘consent calendar’ where members voted on several items at once. (Sounds sort of like a Congressional rider or earmark where pet projects are tacked onto larger bills and never face sunshine or scrutiny by the full membership.)<br /><br />A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/10/09/09greenwire-enviros-waging-orchestrated-pressure-campaign-28715.html" target="_blank">Chamber insider told <span class="caps">E&amp;E</span> news </a>that the real thrust of the Chamber’s campaign to derail the House-passed energy and climate bill came from some of the group’s major donors, who worked behind the scenes to influence Chamber activities through staff-level contact. “Companies with the largest contributions tend to hold more sway with chamber staff on setting final policy positions,” <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/10/09/09greenwire-enviros-waging-orchestrated-pressure-campaign-28715.html" target="_blank">according to the anonymous official</a>.<br /><br />Despite the growing pressure to change its ways, the Chamber remains stuck in the past, clinging to its diminishing role as ‘the voice of business,’ while many major <span class="caps">U.S.</span> businesses leave it behind to forge ahead on climate and energy solutions.<br /><br />“If people want to attack us, bring em on,” <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/08/barack-obama-climate-change" target="_blank">Chamber <span class="caps">CEO</span> Tom Donohue told reporters</a>.<br /><br />“We are not changing where we are,” he said. “We’ve thought long and hard about what is important here and we are not going anywhere.”<br /><br />How long will that intransigence hold up? Will the Chamber remain relevant, or become the laughing stock of Washington, representing a dying breed of angry fossil-fuel-dependent industrialists?</p> </div></div></div><!-- iCopyright Horizontal Tag -->
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<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-14 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/813">pg&amp;e</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/818">exelon</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/2521">U.S. Chamber of Commerce</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/3729">steven chu</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4540">Nike</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4546">PNM Resources</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4561">Apple</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4569">Tom Donohue</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4570">MacAndrews &amp; Forbes Holdings</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4571">Levi Strauss &amp; Co</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4572">PSEG</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4573">StopTheChamber.com</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/directory/vocabulary/4574">Silicon Valley Leadership Council</a></div></div></div>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:09:46 +0000Brendan DeMelle4121 at http://www.desmogblog.com